Opportunities for micro-steerable catheters and tactile feedback technology with high performance electrostrictive EAPs

Sheng Liu; Brian C. Zellers; Dean Anderson

doi:10.1117/12.880244

28 March 2011 Opportunities for micro-steerable catheters and tactile feedback technology with high performance electrostrictive EAPs

Sheng Liu, Brian C. Zellers, Dean Anderson

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7976, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2011; 797616 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.880244
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based electrostrictive electroactive polymers (EAPs) have many advanced features such as large strain, high elastic modulus, and millisecond response time which make them suitable for high performance actuator applications. Recently, polymer blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE)) terpolymers and other polymers have been developed, exhibiting an elastic modulus of 700 MPa and electromechanical strain of 2.5% under an electric field of 100 V/μm, yielding a large elastic energy density. These EAPs are of great promise in many actuator applications requiring compact size and flexible structure while maintaining a large mechanical energy output. To reduce operation voltage, ultrathin films with thickness down to 3 μm have been developed. Multilayer thin film structures have been fabricated for an increase in force output. With these developments, several commercial actuator applications can be realized, including micro-steerable catheters and tactile feedback systems. Micro-steerable catheters, with large bending angles, fast response, and reasonable lifetime are demonstrated. Tactile feedback actuators with high force and acceleration over the haptic frequency range from 100-300 Hz are demonstrated with a single layer of EAP film.

Citation Download Citation

Sheng Liu, Brian C. Zellers, and Dean Anderson "Opportunities for micro-steerable catheters and tactile feedback technology with high performance electrostrictive EAPs", Proc. SPIE 7976, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2011, 797616 (28 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.880244

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